"Freedom" for 1500 Tamil refugees: they can leave the refuge camps and return home
Colombo (AsiaNews) - The government will allow about 1,500 Tamil refugees to leave camps where they are confined and return to their homes. It was announced yesterday by Rizado Bathiudeen, Minister for Resettlement of refugees.
Tomorrow 1445 people will go back to the eastern provinces and 54 other districts of Jaffna. The Minister said that it was necessary to ascertain the war refugee’s actual origin before allowing their return. Above all, government troops had to verify if Tamil Tigers militants were hidden among the refugees.
The government has also decided to allow the refugees to leave the camps and go to the homes and land available around Omanthial, Vayuniya district. There is still de-mining ongoing in the area, but PSM Charles, Secretary of the district, has assured that the work will soon be finished and people will be able to return home.
The government's decision follows the 28 July letter from Human Rights Watch, which accused Colombo of keeping refugees from the long civil war against Tamil Tigers, “confined in the camps against their will, even if the war is over for months”.
The letter reports that “only a few people were released, especially the elderly, to be hosted by families and clinics".
Brad Adams, HRW director for Asia, observes that according to UN data from July 2009 there are 281,621 people in 30 refugee camps under the strict supervision of the soldiers, who may leave only for emergency medical treatment, usually under military escort. Humanitarian workers who work there are forbidden to speak with refugees about the civil war or possible violations of human rights.
Premkumar, in a refugee camp with his wife and daughter, said that since their arrival in mid-May, they were only allowed out once to visit a hospital. He commented that they were 'prisoners'. "First - he says – we were in a prison controlled by Prabhakaran [the leader of rebel Tamil Tigers]. Now we are in a prison controlled by the government. "
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